I had my initial visit with the weight loss clinic in February. Since then, I've been going through the motions for surgery, but hadn't really been committed to the idea. I was under the impression that my clinic (Geisinger, Danville, PA) only offered the RNY and the band, neither of which felt like they suited my needs or desires, but I thought "Well, as a last resort, I guess I'll pick one..."

Since my heart wasn't really into the idea, I screwed around, gained weight, got yellow lighted by the dietician, and saw it as just one more obstacle in my lifelong path for freedom from fat. When I went to surgery class, I learned that Geisinger does offer the VSG - they simply do not have enough data or experience to back it up in a PR kind of way, so they keep it a little hush-hush.

When I learned about VSG being a real option, I was inspired. THIS is a surgery I can get behind. The pluses far outweigh the minuses and I feel committed and ready. I went for my psych appointment a couple of weeks ago... and was once again yellow-lighted. I'm too honest, I guess. No, all of my binge issues are not under control, yet. Yes, I have family problems to deal with which inhibit my current weight loss efforts. However, my family supports my decision to have surgery AND I feel that a lack of a physical cue to stop is a big problem in my bingeing... and the VSG can help me with that.

I have my second meeting with a dietician (a different one) on Thursday, and I'm afraid that I won't have shown enough downward progress since the previous weigh-in to be put through with a green light. I have been up and down in between, but I've been very "good" and focused since I've been thinking about the VSG.

If I wind up with another yellow light - more delays, more copays, more two-hour trips to the hospital at $4/gallon - I'm afraid that it will defeat me. I don't want to be defeated, I don't want to give up, but this is turning out to be such a huge hassle/runaround, not to mention a very pricey venture on top of everything else. (How exactly does one afford organic produce when most of the paycheck is going toward gas and copays?!)

Has anyone else had this much trouble getting through their program? I have a (much smaller) friend in Australia who started looking into WLS options around the same time as I did, and she's had her band in place for well over a month.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem fair.

Hang in there - it is worth persevering through the red tape. It took me from January 1 of 2010 to December 29th of 2010 to get approved. I had my surgery on February 22nd of this year. I was sold twice and laid off once last year - had 4 insurance carriers during the year and had to meet every criteria possible to get approved. But I stuck with it. And, today - just a few days shy of my fifth month anniversary - I am down 76 pounds. I have dropped from a 24w to a 14/14w, am off of all cholesterol lowering meds, 3/4 of my blood pressure meds, and my sleep apnea is gone. So it was worth every roadblock I had to navigate, every hurdle I had to climb over.

I guess I didn't think about it being fair or not - it was just what was before me that I had to overcome to get what I wanted. My mom used to tell me when I was little that life wasn't fair and to not expect it to be. That served me well in this process.

Best of luck to you - it is worth all the aggrivation and work.

Thanks for the encouragement, SK! It is reassuring to know that not everyone just saves up some cash and slips down to Mexico for this surgery. The red tape can be really, REALLY frustrating and I am trying not to let it get me down.

I expect I may be yellow-lighted by the nutritionist AGAIN tomorrow, even though I feel like I've been doing well, I just haven't lost anything. I'm going to print out my food logs and take them along and hope that they serve as evidence of how I've been trying.

I have already been told that my insurance coverage is one of the ones that has been routinely approving the sleeve as an option, so at least that's something positive! I just hope that I manage to get it in during this coverage year, so that my deductible doesn't reset. Is that terrible?

Not terrible at all to try and get it done this calendar year! I'm doing the same thing, and once I have my VSG I am scheduling surgery for my plantar's warts on my foot to make sure I can get it done this year too! Between ER visit for my daughter, husband's vasectomy, and me and my husband's meds, we're about to meet our out of pocket max (probably today after my pre-op testing!) so between now and the end of the year we're going to get all our medical things taken care of while we are at 100%.

Good luck with the dietician!

Does anyone know if Geisinger Gold Health Plan covers the VSG? I am disabled and need several back and neck surgeries due to two car accidents. The kicker is that they won't do the back surgeries until I get the weight off but I can;t get the weight off because my back is so messed up. I really want the sleeve and I have Geisinger Gold Medicare Advantage. Do they cover the sleeve?